How to write a WILL & Sample WILL

The response to my previous post on “Online Will” was very good. Few of my friends and blog visitors requested for a ‘sample draft of a Will.’ The online Will writing service providers prepare online Draft Will based on the details you provide. There is no need for you to work on drafting the Will.

But, if you are planning to write a Will on your own then consider the below points. In this post, I have also provided a ‘Sample Will.’

Details of Assets & Beneficiaries – This is a very important section. List all immovable properties with clear addresses. Mention the movable assets like bank deposits, insurance, units of mutual funds etc., Mention the name of beneficiary(ies) for each asset. (For Mutual Funds – mention the Folio no’s)

Signature – Sign the Will after mentioning the above details

Signature of Witnesses – You have to get the Will attested by minimum two witnesses. Make sure that they mention their father’s names and addresses.

Sample Draft Will / Sample Will Template

Below is the sample Will format:

I, Shri/Smt ………………….. son/daughter/wife of Shri ……………..,resident of …………………., by religion………….., do hereby revoke all my previous Wills (or) Codicils and declare that this is my last Will, which I make on this …….(Date)………………… My Date of Birth is ………….

I declare that I am in good health and possess a sound mind. This Will is made by me without any persuasion or coercion and out of my own independent decision only.

I appoint Shri………………….. Son/daughter of ……………, resident of …………. to be the executor of this Will. In the event Shri…………… were to predecease me, then Shri……………., will be the executor of this Will.

4. Any other asset not mentioned in this Will but of which I am the owner.

All the above assets are owned by me. No one else has rights on these properties.

Signature of Testator

Witnesses

We hereby attest that this Will has been signed by Shri………….as his last Will at ………(Place)……… in the joint presence of himself and us. The testator is in sound mind and made this Will without any coercion.

The above draft is just a sample Will. Kindly remember that there is no standard proforma or format for drafting a Will. It is always better to write an exhaustive Will. You may consult a Legal expert (or) consider utilizing the services of online Will writing providers.

Sreekanth Reddy

Sreekanth is the Man behind ReLakhs.com. He is an Independent Certified Financial Planner (CFP), engaged in blogging, financial counseling & property consultancy for the last 6 years through his firm ReLakhs Financial Services . He is not associated with any Financial product / service provider.
The main aim of his blog is to "help investors take informed financial decisions."

Comments

Ramsays:

October 21, 2016 at 9:34 am

Dear Srikanth,

My father aged about 76 yrs has four sons and three daughters. He owns a house measuring 200 sq yds(not ancestral property). He wants to divide and give the property to his sons only.. first 110 sq.yds to two sons and other 90 sq.yds to other two sons. My query is will daughters have any right in this property legally after the will deed and if only will deed is sufficient for sons to inherit the property or should it be registered or gift deed should be done in sons names. Also kindly let me know if the two guarantors in the will deed should be blood related or relatives or any persons will do. Can my mother and brother-in-laws be a guarantors. Can two out of three daughters be guarantors or all three need to sign in any kind of NOC.

Thank you so much for your suggestion. I have a small query, Kindly advice. If my father writes half of the property to two sons (totally four sons) now and and remaining half to other two sons later as they are out of stations currently. Also kindly let me know if we can get the will-deed registered as gift-deed.

Thank you so much for the reply. One last question, as the property is being given to sons only (four sons) is it enough if my mother and one of my sisters (out of three) sign on the will as witness with clear comments by fathers in the will deed that daughters have no share in the property with proper reasons as to why daughters are not being given any share in property. Will the will-deed be legally valid if in future any of the daughters file a case. Currently all daughters are kept in loop and none of the daughters have any objections.

Dear M Rama Krishna,
Kindly understand that anything and everything can be challenged in court of law in India 🙂
But if they sign as witnesses in the Willdeed / gift deed and if it is clearly mentioned that they do not have any objections and do not like to have share in the property then it should be ok.
Kindly consult a lawyer and take legal opinion too.

Dear Sir, I have two surnames and even the property in the city is by one surname and property at village is by other surname. so will it be a problem to execute will then-after? I don’t have any one closer in relation than my son n wife. So can I make them executor of my WILL.

Dear Sanjay ..It’s better to have one surname, which is as per your ID proofs (like Aadhar/PAN card etc), so that there won’t be any confusion or challenges for your legal heirs in dealing with the transactions. You may get the name changed in one of the Sale deeds.

I have two children, both NRIs. I have invested in Mutual Funds, Equity Shares, Bank FDRs etc; I do not have any property. I have made my daughter or son as a nominee in each of my investments. I am keen for the proceeds of my investments to be used by my children after my death for which my children will open a joint NRI Savings Bank Account. There is no issue about dividing the proceeds. Is there a need for a will as I have made my son or daughter a nominee in each investment? Will it suffice if I write a simple letter mentioning that I am bequeathing my investments to both my children in the event of my death to take care of Income Tax Liability?

Thanks a lot for responding to a large no of quarries on WILL Preparation. I have a small quarry . I have two sons both married living separately. My self and my wife living alone. In present day life you never know when death may strike you. So I wish to write my WILL while still I am in sound health so that my sons do not face problem in inheriting my assets after I pass away.

While I would write my will dividing my assets amongst my sons, I wish to insert one clause in the will stating that in case my wife is alive after my death she be the sole owner of all the assets mentioned in the WILL and in case she is not alive or after her death, the assets be distributed as mentioned in the WILL. Kindly advise.

Since assets are legally owned by my father and mother separately. Can a single WILL with a reference to ‘We’ or ‘Our Assets’ being bequeathed to me post death of both – be possible or would it require two WILLs executed by both separately. This was an important question, request you to kindly address this as well. thanks.

I have a sister and unfortunately the relationship is not very healthy. Besides she is fairly well off from her husband and that side of their ancestral property. My parents have assests spread across their names and have verbally confirmed that all their assets will belong to me post them. Given the law granting equal right to siblings on parental property and my parents affirmation that all their assets will be bequeathed to me – am wishing to have a will documented and registered. Except for a miniscule portion; all assets are self-earned by my parents.

Request your guidance around:
1. Making the WILL legally valid and irrevocable.
2. Despite the WILL can there be any claim my sister or her husband can make at a later date.
3. My parents wish the will to bequeath their assets to either of them who survive the other and only upon both of them moving on (death) to me. How do I articulate this on the WILL.
4. What is the suggested value of stamp paper to be used to have the WILL registered. Also pls guide around how to go about registering the WILL.

Hi Shreekanth,
My grandmother passed away 8 years ago, the house which i am living is in my grandmothers name, she use to live separately in the same building, she came to our house 6-7 months before she passed away and she asked for a pen and paper and asked us to transfer the house which we are currently living to be transferred to my name, i asked my mother if we want to proceed to prepare a will she denied it so i did not proceed further. just to give you a small background about my family, my mother and father don’t live together since last 18 years and my grandmother actually played a pivotal role in getting him out of our life, she realized it that later when things backfired her so she asked us to transfer the house in my name, my Mama who is a rival of my Nana, The Rivalry started when my Nana did not distribute wealth properly among his only brother properly so he is taking out grudge by helping my father achieve his daily bread and just filling his ears against us and as it is my father did not want to work wanted an easy life where money flows in and he can easily spend, now mom worries about the property we are stuck.
Please help!!!

I want this property to be transferred in my name as per my grandmother wish, she has signed in blank paper how to transfer the property?, i have all the proof of identity which has this address mentioned eg. passport, election card and ration card, etc.

Dear Sameer,
Without going through the document it is tough and advisable for me to give you any suggestions.
Has the document been signed by any witnesses?
Suggest you to kindly take help of a trusted civil lawyer.

One of my cousin, lost his father in 2009. He has two sisters married and well settled. He stays with his mother and wife and children. His father has left an unregistered will with two witness and doctors certificate before his death making my cousin as the executor of the will for all his movable and immovable properties. The flat which they are staying is transferred from my cousin’s father’s name, (who is the original owner), to his mother’s name as per the society nomination. Now the building is under re development and the same is registered in his mother’s name. His mother has also nominated him in the agreement with a copy of the nomination form to the society. My cousin’s query is that
a) Should another will be prepared by his mother or his fathers will should hold good as his mothers financial contribution is zero as she has been a housewife throughout her lifetime.
b) can his sisters claim inspite of the will left by my cousins father?

Dear Ram,
a) I believe that it is better her mother also makes a WILL making him as the solo owner (or) she can execute Gift Deed to him. Else, the other two sisters may also claim their share in the property.
b) Is he only the executor or the beneficiary too? (as per the WILL).
kindly read another article on WILLs, click here..

my grand father some property by regesterd gift deed in favor of my father
my grand mother same property written unregesterd will in favor of fathers smalest brothes’S wife
how to deel this problam
plz give me one solution

I am 65 years old. I am having flat in my name, bank FDs and equity shares. I am also a Sebait of a Private Debuttor Estate which I inherited from my father’s “Deed of Settlement”. Prior to my father’s death, he was sole Sebait of our private Debuttor Estate with power of nominating to appoint Sebait after his death. Accordingly, my father appointed his three sons as Sebaits (only after his death) and I am the eldest son. Now I want my only son to step into my shoes after my death with conditions since my son does not stay with me for long. conditions will be, inter alia, that he has to stay in our estate and look after the Deity( Shree Shree Gopal Jew Thakur) and continue daily seva puja, which we are continuing. I do not want to divulge in my family. How shall I cover this

Dear Navaneethan..She can write a WILL on ancestral property but it can be limited to her share in the property (as it is an ancestral property).
An ancestral property can not be passed on totally.
In case, if you wouldn’t like to have your share then you can execute a ‘Relinquishment Deed’.

I am unmarried and bought a house from my own saving in 1992. MY friend was with me right from the purchase of plot, construction and thereafter. We are of same age and retired teachers from a private school. Now I am writing my Will bequeathing my property to my Niece, my brother’s daughter. But I want my niece to take legal possession of the property only after my friend’s death who was with me while good and bad times. I want my friend to live in the house until her death and then my niece can take the legal rights of the house.

Could you please tell me whether its possible, and what are the wordings I must write

Hi.
Thanks for your reply.
Just to be clear, the First holder of a joint fixed deposit cannot WILL this deposit to someone else in his WILL. Is this your contention ?
If so, then does this fixed deposit in joint names need not be mentioned in his WILL since the money in this deposit automatically belongs to the other joint holders ?
Naresh Arora.

Dear Naresh,
Joint a/c holder under the either/or survival clause, makes either of the parties the natural owner of the investments in case of any unexpected turn of events.
But kindly note that, a WILL can still supersede the nominations or beneficiary list w.r.t to joint accounts.
“All investments except company bonds and equity, nomination does not provide ownership of your assets. The nominee will only be the custodian of the asset till it is given to its beneficiary. To ensure the nominee becomes the final beneficiary, you have to ensure there is a will to bequeath your wealth in a hassle- free manner.”

Firstly thank you soo much for such an informative article. I have been reading about this all over the internet and its all so confusing. I actually needed a clarification, as i was reading in another blog, that when the testator of a will signs the will, this must be done in the presence of 2 witnesses and they should have seen the testator sign or affix his mark to the will. Is this correct and can you confirm the same for me?

Dear Mr. Srikanth
Your effort to help prepare a Deed Document is commendable. I would like you to add, if possible, a similar format for different types of deeds; for instance, Joint / Mutual / Concurrent etc so that it will be facilitating the specific needs.
I have two doubts; firstly, my wife and I have a property on a registered lease deed. Can we include it in our Joint Will or not? Secondly, can we include certain conditions in the joint will; for instance, a fixed amount of interest FD should be sent exclusively to a charitable institution (which has already been initiated) or not?
With regards,
Dr. P. V. Sreenivasaiah

i) As far as the Property on Lease deed is concerned in case it is a Lease Hold Property. In case of leasehold property, so long as lease does not expire, the bequest is effective. If the lease expires during the lifetime of a testator, no bequest is made. However, the same is not the case with a Freehold property. I suggest conversion of property into a freehold property after the payment of requisite fees, which would entitle you to bequeath the property by way of a joint will.
ii) Although a single document, the joint will is a separate distribution of property by each executor (signatory) and will be treated as such on admission to probate.
iii) With respect to the condition as to the fixed amount of interest to be sent to charitable institutions the same can be included in the Joint will.

Dear Mr Sreekanth
It really is a laudable effort you have been making. I have seen many confusing narratives about the will.
I have a query too: I have some properties jointly with my wife an some others in my single name. Also, I have ancestral property which is in my name.
My query is: Can we deal with all these in a joint will or need separate ones? Any other format which will simply these issues?
Thanks and regards

Hi. There is a special case in which one of my friend’s grandmother had two properties on her name, one on freehold, and one of leasehold. But she passed away about 10 years back. Grandmother has 4 kids and she left a will (registered) that both the properties should be given to only 1 person (A) out of 4. But A has not done the transfer of title yet, means both the properties are still on A’s mother name (here means Grandmother’s name). Now A wants to draft his own will. Can A transfer these two properties to his heir, because as per Will, these properties belong to A but properties are still on A’s mother name? Is it possible? Jurisdiction: Delhi, India, Hindu

To make it more clear above, the two properties were originally bought by grandfather. Grandfather passed away, and then properties owner name changed to grandmother name.

Dear Ankur,
I believe that the WILL supersedes inheritance laws, but only for the property which is solely owned by the deceased.
The son (A) has the rights to sell/transfer the properties as per his wish.
Do consult a legal expert on this.

Dear BALU,
Let me know, the grand-sons were all MAJORS when the transaction happened?
I believe that grand-sons can claim their share in the property based on the WILL.
But kindly note that I am not a legal expert, hence suggest you to consult a lawyer and take a legal opinion on this.

I have gone thru all your advise given to others in their needs, but I am really grateful to you for the simple service you render to humanity, God Bless you, keep doing the good work and help the needy.

I and my husband nominated each other for our Shares Demat accounts, FDs etc. Further we have Bank accounts payable to Either or Survivor of us. We also have independant residential properties. Now, we want to execute a joint will stipulating that though we nominated each other for our Share Demat Accounts, the survivor of us can only enjoy the interest portion on FDs and proceeds of Shares to be kept as FDs. We want to execute a joint will bequeathing different Properties and amounts of FDs for our son, daughter and grand children. Can we do that? will such a will override the nomination given to Banks? or is it better to cancel the existing nominations and nominate each of them for different FDs. Is there a provision to nominate successive nominees for Bank Deposits?

Dear Kumari,
As per legal Experts ; a nominee is merely a trustee, who must distribute the assets to the legal heirs named in a will, or as per succession laws.
However, there are some investments, like company shares, where the provisions of the respective Acts override those of succession laws.
As per RBI’s guidelines, the nominees in the case of bank accounts, mutual funds and other investments also need not be the automatic, sole beneficiaries. Legal hiers will have rights on these investment proceeds.
So, suggest you to consult a legal expert and get your WILL drafted.

My father has suddenly been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has no previous will. In this case, we would like to create a will with all assets to go to my mother on his passing – is there any general language we can use when drafting the will such as ‘all assets including bank accounts, stock holdings…” without giving too many details like exact account numbers etc. as we may not have an exhaustive list of assets readily available with us. Thanks.

Dear Rahul,
Advisable to take help of a professional online WILL writing service. I believe WILL is an important document and these services are generally available at a very nominal cost.
Kindly read : Online WILL writing services..

Pl advise on:
1. If the beneficiary can be named as the ‘executioner’ of the Will?
2. Though it is always advisable to list out each item of the assets, in my case, however, I do not have the complete list of all the stocks & Mutual Fund investments that I have made over the past 40 years or so. I would have, say, 90 % of the list. In some cases, the original document (share certificate) is not handy and, I may become aware of its existence when a dividend warrant or some communication from that company is received.
Is there any way one can include such ‘unknown’ assets so that at a later date the beneficiary is not put thru much difficulty?
Thanks & regards
Suresh

my father in law want to write house which is his father property and in that house all his brothers family also living and my father in law also have 3 rooms ocypied and they live in other house (own house).they want to gift their daughter (my wife) please just sent simple perfoma and all needs.brother of my father in law,my brother in law and every body can witness.please do what as per law so in future dont have any problem

Thank you Mr Sreekanth for your prompt reply to my earlier query.I have a few more questions.
1)Can we mention the names of two beneficiaries as executors of the will, the second executor will act only in case the first one is unable to act due to whatever reasons like death, ill health,etc.
2)Will it anyway help if we mention the names of beneficiaries’ children in the will to enable them to get establish their claim on the bequeathed property
2)Will the revenue authorities on application change the land records in the name of the beneficiary solely on the basis of registered will so that the beneficiary can sell the property without any problem
Thank you very much

While mentioning the details of Fixed deposits with banks what precaution should be taken to ensure that the subsequent renewals are also covered in the bequeathed fixed deposit.This is necessary as some details of fixed deposit given in the will like date of maturity etc. may vary in due course of time Thanks in advance

Lets assume Testator would be husband, he is intention is to share his property or savings not only to Wife and but also to his sister (as sister helped economically in many situations), but after the death of Testator, Property should be in parents care, after their death only, this equal share should be done, is this possible?

I Lost my father in 2013 due to veazing and brian clots problem all of a sudden. We have Property located at Chennai in his name. But he didn’t write any Will. My mother is staying with us, we are one elder brother, me and my sister who is already married in 1990 with a son and staying with her husband and inlaws. As we want to settle her some amount and release the property either in my or my brother’s name. This is okayed by my mother and brother. But my sister wants equal share and fighting for it. Pl advise what to do?

Dear Srinivas..All of you (mother, two brothers & sister) will have equal rights on the property. It is better you all reach to an agreement and sort this out through a lawyer. If she decides to give up her share (relinquish) by accepting cash, suggest you to make this settlement through a formal document (property partition) and through a lawyer.

I am a widower and having only one married son & blessed with my grandson. It appears that my son is more inclined towards his in laws and spends most of his money for them, probably with the influence of his better half.
Out of my few immovable property, i wants to make my present grand son and future siblings of my son .so that my son can not sell the property on his in law’s insisitance. Being my only son, I wish to leave one property for his own. Kindly advise.

Dear Vijaya Kumar,
You may write a Written will stating your will & wishes. You can gift your properties in the name of your Grandson. Suggest you to get this done through a professional or you can consider using the services on ONLINE WILL DRAFTING Companies.
Kindly read my article on ‘Now you can write your WILL online‘.

Does a WILL require that the area of the property be specified? The property inherited by my mother does not specify the area, but mentions the survey number, (village,etc) and the house name. The village office is refusing to transfer the property in her name since the area is not mentioned. is their stand justified?

Iam an old man having little assets only , but I got best wife &this is my great asset ever! and off course two girls , one great son who is working in BSF. in India. particularly Kerala having serious consequence is that, after death of best husband there is a set back to their simple innocent wife, mother runs hard to live due to non protectct of day to day activities by the son even by daughters . let see a Tami picture (mouna guru) that fiction is communicate well.
some time treat them as a house made up to their death , taking all the writes &assets by son or by daughters.
I strongly advice all those who love mothers , they should prepare a simple will in their mother tongue and known to them properly. and some reliable person to authorise , that to compliance is effected.
thanks .

A Question?
Can the will also include how the assets should be later used or disposed?
I would like my wife to enjoy the assets, but after her death, I would like to state my desire on how they should be distributed and limit/protect any discrimination. Is this possible? how to word it?